webnovelfull Chapter 66 Do You Know? 20
Chapter 66 Do You Know? 20
The Prince of Yan's eyes had turned bloodshot, but his frenzied emotions had strangely subsided: "Once this matter comes to light, there will be no turning back. We must fight to the death. If Heaven blesses us and I am able to accomplish great things, I will certainly not fail the trust of you all who have assisted me today."
The Prince of Yan had made up his mind and secretly began to plot a coup, but on the surface everything was calm. He even avoided and endured the Prince of Yong, contrary to his usual behavior.
The Prince of Yong was overjoyed, thinking that the Prince of Yan had already resigned himself to his fate.
Although the emperor sensed something was amiss, he breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that the Prince of Yan seemed intent on withdrawing his troops and calling a retreat.
Dynastic changes are often accompanied by bloodshed and sacrifice. If the King of Yan can take the initiative to back down, it will be a blessing for the country and the people.
Little did they know that the Prince of Yan had secretly contacted the Prince of Yong, and upon meeting, he went straight to the point, saying, "You and I have been vying for that throne for over a decade, but it turns out that when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits!"
The Prince of Yong was in a moment of triumph when he suddenly heard these words and immediately said with displeasure, "What do you mean by that?"
The Prince of Yan sneered twice and took out a bright yellow silk handkerchief from his pocket: "His Majesty says on the surface that he will pass the throne to one of us, but in reality he wants to provoke a fight between the two of us, weaken our strength, and then eliminate us when we are both exhausted. In this way, he can smoothly hand over the throne to his true heir."
Having said that, he threw the yellow silk to the Prince of Yong.
Prince Yong accepted the silk cloth with some skepticism. The few words on it contained a wealth of information.
The gist of the story is that the emperor passed the throne to Zhao Zongquan of Yuzhou, but worried that he was not strong enough. So the emperor wanted to find a way to weaken or eliminate the power of the two princes of Yong and Yan in the capital in the last few days, so that Zhao Zongquan could be ready to return to the capital to inherit the throne at any time.
Prince Yong naturally didn't believe it, but looking at the familiar handwriting and the deep red seal, if the handwriting could be faked, could the imperial seal be faked as well?
This secret edict must be real!
Prince Yong's mind went completely blank; he didn't know what to do.
He was originally full of confidence, thinking that the throne was already in his grasp, but then Zhao Zongquan suddenly appeared!
"Why, why would he do that?"
When the Prince of Yong learned that the throne had been passed to Zhao Zongquan, his reaction was just like that of the Prince of Yan when he learned that the position of Crown Prince had been passed to the Prince of Yong: his eyes were bloodshot and he was in a frenzy.
“What else could it be!” The Prince of Yan said coldly, and began to explain to him: “We are just the Emperor’s nephews, while Zhao Zongquan was once the Emperor’s adopted son!”
Since the emperor had no heir, he summoned Zhao Zongquan to the palace to raise him. Naturally, their relationship was closer than that with you and me.
"However, given our combined power, and fearing that Zhao Zongquan might not be able to withstand our offensive, the Emperor deliberately demoted him to Yuzhou, allowing him to quietly accumulate strength, while the Emperor himself was responsible for wearing down our power in the capital."
The more the King of Yan spoke, the more reasonable it seemed to him, until he himself began to believe it.
Yes! How could I have forgotten about the Emperor's adopted son and instead gotten into a deadly conflict with the Prince of Yong?
Zhao Zongquan clearly has the greater moral high ground!
The King of Yan himself believed his own words, let alone the King of Yong.
Prince Yong kicked the table over and shouted angrily, "Outrageous! How dare they play me like this! I will never let them get away with this!"
Prince Yong kicked over everything he could in the house. Only after he calmed down did Prince Yan say enticingly, "Brother, we are being played by them. Rather than waiting to die, we should take the initiative."
Now, only by joining forces can we first eliminate Zhao Zongquan, then persuade the Emperor to pass the throne to you ahead of schedule. When my elder brother ascends the throne, if you can bestow upon me the title of Prince, I will be content.
The Prince of Yan spoke with an air of seduction, addressing the Prince of Yong as "elder brother" and referring to himself as "younger brother."
Although Prince Yong was a few years older, he was mediocre and easily influenced.
First, he was startled by the secret edict that the Prince of Yan produced, and went into a frenzy. Then he was fooled by the Prince of Yan's sweet talk and nonsense. Now he was being provoked with words and speaking in a humble tone. The Prince of Yong could not resist the Prince of Yan's deception and agreed to cooperate with the Prince of Yan on the spot.
“Very well, if I, your brother, truly ascend to the throne, I will naturally not mistreat you, my worthy brother.” Prince Yong.
After some discussion, the two decided that the Prince of Yong would force the Prince of Yong to abdicate and seize the throne, while the Prince of Yan would go to Yuzhou to eliminate Zhao Zongquan.
The Prince of Yan, having successfully tricked the Prince of Yong onto the ship, was so excited that his hands trembled.
Become!
That secret edict was obviously forged by him. He couldn't possibly forge the imperial seal. He directly had the craftsmen use a chemical to preserve the seal of the imperial edict that the emperor had given to Zhao Zongquan, then washed away the writing and rewrote it in imitation of the emperor's handwriting.
Now, the Prince of Yan has planned everything with Sheng Changfeng and Jing Wangqiu. First, they will trick the Prince of Yong into forcing him to abdicate, while they will then surround and kill the Prince of Yong, and take advantage of the chaos to eliminate Zhao Zongquan.
It was Sheng Changfeng who suggested taking down Zhao Zongquan.
In his previous life, the Prince of Yan was about to successfully force the emperor to abdicate when, at that very moment, a palace maid easily escaped from the palace surrounded by rebel troops, successfully bringing out the blood edict and military tally.
In the end, Zhao Zongquan successfully obtained the blood edict and military tally. With just a few words, he persuaded the city guards to open the city gates, allowing them to enter smoothly. He then annihilated the Prince of Yan who was attempting to force the emperor to abdicate. With the merit of saving the emperor, he ascended to the position of crown prince. As soon as the emperor died, he directly became the emperor.
Those lowly soldiers and crab generals in Yuzhou also rose to prominence, becoming the emperor's confidants and occupying high positions in the court.
Gu Tingye, Sheng Minglan's future husband, was first stripped of his academic titles by the late emperor and ordered to be allowed to take the imperial examination again only after the age of fifty. He then left the capital in disgrace, bearing the infamy of causing his father's death. It was because he followed Zhao Zongquan that he gained merit in saving the emperor and supporting the new emperor, successfully turning his life around from an unfilial son hated by everyone to a trusted and beloved general of the new emperor and a rising star in the court.
It has to be said that Zhao Zongquan and his ilk have some good luck.
Luck is a mysterious thing, invisible and intangible, but it should never be ignored.
Sheng Changfeng was unwilling to falter at such a crucial moment and had to seize the opportunity to eliminate Zhao Zongquan and prevent future troubles.
Who knows if there are other loopholes in the palace that could allow another palace servant to escape with the blood edict and military tally, giving Zhao Zongquan another chance to profit from the situation.
The Prince of Yan did not take Zhao Zongquan seriously, after all, he did not care about those two and a half people in Yuzhou. However, seeing Sheng Changfeng's resolute attitude and considering that he had never made a wrong judgment since he surrendered, the Prince of Yan became cautious and sent people to monitor Zhao Zongquan at all times, planning to take advantage of the chaos when the Prince of Yong forced him to abdicate.
Everything is ready; all that's left is for the Prince of Yong to take action.